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Linux To Ring Up $35B By 2008

Posted by michael on from the money-in-the-bank dept.

al@opensourcebrowser.com pastes "For a theoretically free operating system, Linux is -- and will continue to be -- a cash cow, a research firm said Wednesday as it predicted the OS will bring in more than $35 billion in revenues by 2008. Framingham, Mass.-based IDC said that overall revenue for servers, desktops, and packaged software running on Linux will reach $35.7 billion in the next four years."

7 of 212 comments (clear)

  1. And Its Net Economic Benefit Is Even Greater by geoffrobinson · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Linux allows companies and individuals to use their money in other areas as well. This helps the economy overall. Cell phones on Linux will be cheaper, etc.

    Also, companies can use that money in other areas, which I would assume would make them more productive.

    A lot of this revenue is probably for services I would assume.

    --
    Except for ending slavery, the Nazis, communism, & securing American independence, war has never solved anything.
  2. Warning by Ars-Fartsica · · Score: 4, Insightful
    These are the same people who claimed B2B sites would be transacting $10 billion a year by 2006 whilst praising ATM networking, 3G networks and AOL.

    Yet the same people completely missed portable MP3 players, VOIP, etc etc

  3. don't need me anymore by ToasterTester · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Well with that much money guess they don't need us writing free code anymore. They can afford to pay and spread the wealth.

  4. Re:I write OSS for Linux by Limburgher · · Score: 4, Insightful

    Yes. Did you? I can still charge for support and distribution, I just have to make the source available.

    --

    You are not the customer.

  5. TCO studies by vlad_petric · · Score: 4, Insightful
    Believing TCO studies from Microsoft is like believing safety studies from medication manufacturers.

    Oh, wait a sec ... I meant the other way around.

    --

    The Raven

  6. Kinda misleading by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 5, Insightful

    They're counting money for hardware that would have been spent anyway, regardless of what OS is running on it. It's like a car company taking credit for $35 billion spent on gas. In the end, if I don't buy a Honda, I'll buy a Ford and spend money on the gas regardless.

    The only credible argument is that less will be spent on hardware supporting Linux than would be spent supporting other operating systems. Perhaps, that's an arguable point. But even then, the cost difference would not be $35 billion.

  7. Software Sells Hardware by stankulp · · Score: 4, Insightful


    IBM said it first, but it's still true today.

    You don't buy computer hardware because of its architecture. You buy it for the software it will run.

    Linux runs just about any sort of application you could desire, it's free (as in speech, not as in beer), but businesses have to buy hardware and hire IT people to run it.

    IBM used to give the software away for free to get people to buy the iron.

    The more things change...

    --
    We must be alert to the danger that public policy could become captive to a scientific-technological elite. - Eisenhower